I’ve actually been making music my whole life. I’m not in it for commercial success, I’m just in it for fun. My music is just for me. I’ve tried different hardware and some software. But in the end I came to the conclusion that making music with hardware is the most fun for me. Therefore, I have purchased a Digitakt, Digitone and Argon8M in the last few years and actually I have everything what I need to make music.
But somehow I keep thinking about what else I might need. The favored device changes almost daily. Sometimes I think I still need a few drums in the form of a Nord Drum 3P. Then I think I need more multitimbral tracks and a retro device like a JV 2080. But I’ve always wanted a Nord Lead as well. Then I favor a Cobalt8, because I already know the handling from the Argon. Or I think I’ll save some money for a Virus TI2 so I can have drums, effects and lots of tracks in one unit.
Somehow this constant thinking is really getting me down and I can’t come to a decision. What would you advise me? Do you feel the same way? How do you deal with it?
We’ve all been there, I reckon. Classic case of GAS, imo. Do you really need anything else or are you just going through a bit of a dry spell creatively? One thing that can help if you’re insistent on getting something is to watch a bunch of YouTube videos and sample the hell out of them. Throw them in your DT and see if you actually like those kinds of sounds/timbres etc within the context of your other sounds. That way, you’re more likely to know if you really want to go deeper with it by owning the unit itself. Good luck and I can assure you that you’ll know when you’re missing something from your setup by trying to create more tracks and there being a glaring hole somewhere. And other times, it’s just nice to try something new with a different workflow
Gear can be fuel for creativity. While I do have my favorite weapons that I use everyday and are definitely here to stay, I also buy stuff to try new things and test new configurations. So my advice is: get that Nord Lead you’ve always wanted, make a track or two with it and if it happens that you don’t gel with it, just sell it as it has an excellent resell value. Nothing to lose and you’ll probably know better what you really need.
If this thinking is not preventing you to make music for the most of your time, just enjoy to make music and maybe, some day, you will find something, which you are really missing.
But if this thinking seems to be a part of an artistic block, then my advice would be that even new gear will not help. As much as we wish, we can’t buy creativity.
Maybe a device to record, mix, and master your work could be, what you could need? There are some excellent multi-track recorders in the market for this.
If you have a Digitakt, you definitely don’t need more drum hardware. You just need to sample more drum sounds. There are tons of free sample libraries out there. You could also just borrow a Nord Drum from someone and sample a ton of sounds from it.
What helps me sometimes is limiting myself to only watching YouTube videos about gear I already have, rather than gear I don’t have. Invariably somebody like Loopop has done a very in depth video about something I have that makes me:
a) think about it in a different way;
b) realise that I haven’t spent enough time exploring what it can do and redouble my efforts
It’s the old karate principle of “would you rather face an opponent who has practiced the same kick 1000 times or the one who has practiced 1000 different kicks once?”
I’ve suffered from this type of thinking, where it starts to get you down. I’ve found it’s good to re-watch youtube videos of performances, tutorials, reviews etc. of the gear you already own. It can help with creative ideas or remind yourself of why you were excited for this piece of gear in the first place.
Like you, i’m a hobbyist that makes music for fun. It’s not nice when it doesn’t seem like fun any longer. Recently i’ve sold all my gear and limited myself to one groovebox…i’ve also bought a ukulele. In times of creative gluts, i tinkle of the uke, just learning really slowly and having fun. Also having 10/15 mins of the uke, stops me from going on my phone and gassing over new gear.
I think you have to let these things simmer a bit. If you’re GASing for something try and not to act on it rather wait a while preferably weeks to see if that itch is still there or off it has moved on to something else
It’s your hobby. There’s no rules but those you make yourself. Do what brings you the most joy, today.
The contrarian in me suggests:
sell (or at least pack away for 6 months) all your regular gear
pick a genre/medium/practice/attitude which has interested you but which you have not deeply explored
buy just enough new stuff to make inroads into that genre/mood/attitude
explore for 6 months
Why 6 months? I pulled that out of my ass. But it’s a good length of time to really get into a different flow. You’ll likely finish a few tracks in that time.
Why new gear? Just because. You’re describing a kind of block, fighting with yourself over small details. A big shift, a commitment to a time span and new technique will decontextualise all you were doing before, and the itchy GAS feeling too. If you have funds available, just use it and enjoy.
(NOTE that I’ve basically said entirely the opposite in similar threads on this forum. There are no rules.)
This is called Gear Acquisiton Syndrome.
What helps is buying more gear until you finally realize, that it´s not helping to make you better music, and you start focusing on just get something done.
Also what helps is not to look at gearpr0n-threads here and on other forums, and not to look at reviews or unboxing videos.
Focus on a musical goal.
the need to buy something should arise organically while making the music finding a problem that needs to be solved, not by reading/watching commercials and telling yourself the advertised product will help you solve a problem you don’t have yet.
The endless struggle - there is always something new and shiny around the corner.
I found staying off Ebay/Reverb/Facebook groups/marketplace etc can help a lot. Just try to remove yourself from places that advertise available gear that might give you ideas. Ignore (or mute!) the New Gear and Setups threads on here too.
Beyond that it’s just self-discipline and thinking hard about what you expect a new item to give you that you can’t do already.
Someone else I saw had a good technique that was every music related ‘task’ earned them some gear budget. Such as:
finish a song: £50
tidy studio: £10
finish an album: £200 etc.
I pulled those numbers out the air, but you then limit yourself to what you have built up in your budget. Not tried it myself but seemed like a fun way to limit GAS and make you more productive too.
I suppose if you find yourself asking this very question, you don’t need any gear. It would be nice to get some of those hardware you have mentioned. They could also give way to new sonic territories. But need is not the right word if you think of buying a sampler, drum machine and a groovebox at the same time. If you have a midi controller that stopped working, which you were frequently using, then you would definitely need one for real.
…add a used nord lead xt rack to ur ballpark…covers all classic synth flavours and beyond like nothing else…plus pretty much all nord drum synthesis u could ask for…
and a model:cycles…for it’s individual sonic signature, the elktron workflow ur already familiar with… plus this time… even with the unbeatable hands on factor…
all that together gives u all the fun for the rest of ur life…promise…
well…that said…u might wanna consider a mpc 1000 with jjos on top of it all…for straight fingerdrumming fun and covering the other big hardware sequencer concept out there…
